


Through the Eyes of a Child

by DreamlightViolet



Category: Magic Kaito, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: Basically Kaito Shrinks, Borderline KaiShin, Conan Is So Done, Conan does not, Conan doesn't know Shrunken Kaito is Kid, Did I mention that Kaito's a pain in the ass?, Especially towards Conan, Friendship, Gen, Hakuba doesn't understand children, He deserves an award for 'Most Irritating Child in Class 1-B', Humor, Identity Reveal, It's a love-hate thing, Kaito and Conan are kind of friends, Kaito doesn't know Conan is Shinichi, Kaito is THE massive pain in the ass, Kaito is the human embodiment of sunshine and energy, Kaito makes for a fabulous six-year-old, Kaito makes it his life goal to annoy Conan as much as possible, Kind of Graphic Descriptions of APTX Poisoning at the Very Beginning, Misunderstandings, Secret Identity, and evil, and is a massive pain in the ass, because why not, but Conan also kind of hates him, but gets light and humourous later on, don't forget evil, it starts off kind of dark, seriously, who am I kidding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-11
Updated: 2016-08-23
Packaged: 2018-06-01 16:23:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6527392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreamlightViolet/pseuds/DreamlightViolet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"People didn't de-age, just like that. They grew older. Becoming younger shouldn't have been possible. It couldn't have been. But, somehow, it must have been, because Kaito was currently about five years old, and the taskforce were towering over him like human giants."</p><p>In which Kid is shrunk, Tantei-kun is hiding something, and Kaito is determined to find out what—hopefully without blowing his own cover in the process.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Suddenly Small

**Author's Note:**

> Because a shrunken Kaitou Kid would be the best thing ever.
> 
> One thing to note before you read; this kind of diverges from the Movie canon. Kaito isn't aware of Conan actually being Kudo Shinichi in this.

Kaito had always wondered what dying was like. Now that he was experiencing it firsthand, he could say one thing for sure—it wasn't fun.

For starters, it hurt. It hurt so much that it almost felt like his bones were melting into liquefied marrow—and perhaps they were—and his body ached all over as if he'd just completed a century-long work out. His vision was blurry and dark, his head throbbing like a pulsating second heart, his thoughts swimming from the fever that was relentlessly attacking his brain. His skin was hot and sticky with a thick, salty liquid. He didn't need to glance at the substance to know it was his own blood.

Oh, well. It was going to happen eventually. He'd known from the start that fighting against the Ravens was a suicide mission, something only someone with a death wish would try. You'd have to be out of your mind to even think about it, let alone actually attempt it.

Had he been out of his mind? Perhaps a little. Tantei-kun and the task force clearly thought so.

Despite the desperate situation he was in, Kaito laughed. It was a strangled, maniacal sound, and almost certainly made him sound more than a little deranged. But he'd never cared about seeming unhinged before, so why should he start now? There was no point to it. Besides, it wasn't like there was anyone nearby to hear him anyway.

Speaking of which, where were Nakamori and the task force? Kaito had escaped from the heist venue by hang glider; there should have been a hoard of police cars eagerly pursuing him from below. But this time, there had been nothing. And when he had stopped for a break in a nearby abandoned warehouse, the Ravens had found him, and forced him to swallow a red and white pill of an unknown substance.

An unknown substance that turned out to be very, very toxic.

His corpse would be found eventually, dressed in Kid's signature outfit, and his identity would be discovered. His mother would be devastated. She had already lost her husband; how would she cope with losing her son too? Nakamori would be horrified. Aoko would be furious at him for lying to her initially, for making her family suffer. But then the grief would kick in, and she'd cry and cry and cry until she had no tears left to shed.

At least when he was dead he wouldn't have to see her cry,

He realised suddenly that he couldn't move his limbs. Was his body shutting down already? Was he going to die that soon? He had so much more he wanted to do with his life. Find the right person, learn to ice skate, become a world famous magician, maybe even conquer his fear of fish. There was so much more he wanted to do.

Would Tantei-kun cry, he wondered? He'd never seen the child cry before, not even once. Such an odd child, Edogawa Conan was – a mystery that never shed a tear. Would the boy be at all sad if Kaito died?

Probably not. Tantei-kun only knew Kid, the illustrious phantom thief. He knew him as a rival, someone to battle with and try to defeat at all costs. He didn't know Kuroba Kaito, the boy who loved magic with a passion, the boy who flipped Aoko's skirt in order to spark a reaction, the boy who was deathly afraid of fish and terrible at ice skating and had a mildly unhealthy addiction to triple chocolate fudge ice cream sundaes.

He knew of Kid, but he didn't know Kaito.

The thought was sad and strange and painful, and didn't quite make sense to his exhausted brain.

He knew these were his final moments. He knew he should be thinking of his mother, his father; of Aoko and Nakamori-keibu; of all those people who had had such a huge impact on his life, who he cared about. Yet the only thing on his mind was the way Tantei-kun's cowlick stuck up no matter how hard he tried to smooth it down, and the way whenever he figured something over his lips quirked into a lopsided smirk and those blue, blue eyes gleamed dangerously behind their oversized frames.

Kaito would never see those blue eyes again.

He didn't want to die.

Time ticked by, and Kaito's clock shuddered to a halt.

And, somehow, restarted.

✧～✧～✧

"Hey, kid, wake up!"

Kaito pried open eyes heavy with exhaustion and blinked, his vision gradually sharpening. Directly above him was a man's face. He appeared to be wearing a police uniform of some sort—a task force uniform?

Was he still at the heist? Kaito jolted upright, eyes wide with horror. Panicked, he checked his wrists for handcuffs—surely they'd be there, glinting silver under the moonlight?—but found nothing. His wrists were bare. Glancing upwards, he stared at the man. Behind him were multiple other taskforce members, all with the same concerned expression on their faces. Yet something struck Kaito as odd about them; all of a sudden, the task force members all seemed awfully tall, taller than they had been earlier. It was an unpleasant, disorienting sensation, and he shook his head in attempt to clear it.

"Are you all right?" The man's voice was high-pitched and gentle, the way one's voice went when one spoke to small children. Kaito scowled. What, was he being treated like a kid now? How old did they think he was, six?

He got to feet, brushing himself off, before abruptly realising that his clothes were much heavier on him than they should be. He was practically drowning in swathes of thick, blood-stained fabric. Alarmed, Kaito stumbled backwards, staring down at his hands, which upon standing had been immediately blanketed by waves of white material. Trembling violently, he shook his sleeves down his arms to gain access to his hands – and very nearly screamed aloud.

His long, slender hands, deft from years of sleight-of-hand, were gone, replaced instead by tiny ones with short, slim fingers and trimmed fingernails. He flexed his fingers, and the miniature fingers obeyed. There was no doubting it—those little hands were his. But how?

People didn't de-age, just like that. They grew older. Becoming younger shouldn't have been possible. It couldn't have been.

But, somehow, it must have been, because he was currently about five years old, and the taskforce were towering over him like human giants.

That same man knelt down, asked what his name was, why he was covered in blood, why he was wearing Kid's suit, if he had any clothes his size, and Kaito just stared, his brain unable to process the flood of new information.

It didn't make any sense.

So Kaito did the only thing he could think to do in the situation—he ran.


	2. Lost in an Unknown City

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaito gets lost and found...but not by the person you might expect.

Kaito would probably have kept on running indefinitely had he had the stamina.

As it was, his too-short legs were aching, his too-small lungs were begging for oxygen and his too-tiny feet were sore and blistered. He slowed to a stop, panting heavily, and oriented his surroundings.

He was in an unfamiliar area, a deserted side street lined by an assortment of mix-and-match houses.

Kaito frowned. _Odd_. The heist venue had been located in Ekoda, Kaito's home town, and because Ekoda was such a small area, Kaito knew it like the back of his hand. If he didn't recognise this area... then, at some point, he must have left Ekoda.

That was the awful moment Kaito realised that not only was he under four feet tall and freezing cold and kind of peckish, he was also utterly lost.

Lady Luck was _not_ on his side tonight.

He had to think. The first thing he needed was a change of clothes. It wouldn't do to be discovered wearing an oversized Kid suit. People would ask questions, awkward questions he couldn't answer without giving away his identity. Fortunately, he always carried a spare set of clothes on his person during heist, just in case. Sure, they were about a gazillion sizes too big for him, but they were also a gazillion times better than the outfit he was currently wearing.

Tugging on a giant T-shirt, he jammed his suit beneath a nearby dumpster (though he kept his monocle tucked away in his pocket, so that it wasn't at risk of breaking) making a mental note to retrieve it later, once he'd figured out what to do. After double checking that the suit couldn't be easily seen, he continued on his way, considering his options.

First and foremost, he needed a place to stay. He couldn't go home — that was where the Ravens would check first. But where else was he supposed to go? He could go to Aoko. The girl loved children, and would probably be overjoyed to have one in the house. But Aoko had known Kaito for as long as he could remember; she'd almost certainly recognise him as her younger childhood friend, and then there'd be trouble.

No, he couldn't go to Aoko. Who else, then? Tantei-kun? No way. Tantei-kun was a child prodigy whose genius rivalled Kaito himself. Living in close proximity with him was a sure-fire way to blow his cover. Akako?

At that thought, Kaito felt a little nauseous. Living with Akako would be... would be... Words could not describe how brain-numbingly horrifying that would be.

Drawing to a halt, Kaito realised he was in the middle of a large park. There was nobody around, which wasn't surprising — it had to be past midnight by now. Kaito kind of wished he had a clock, actually. Well, sure, it wouldn't be much use in this situation, but still, it would be nice to know the time. Not knowing made Kaito feel like he had lost control, and control over the situation was what he desperately needed right then.

He was exhausted, he realised with a jolt. He had been fine in his seventeen-year-old body, but this child body obviously wasn't built for long periods without sleep. He needed a bed and he needed sleep. Thinking could wait until morning.

To the right of the gravel path beneath Kaito's feet was a park bench, painted a yellow so bright it practically glowed in the dark. It was dilapidated and probably uncomfortable and the paint was all but chipped away, but it was better than nothing.

He curled up on the cold, hard bench and fell asleep.

✧～✧～✧

When Kaito awoke, there was a face above him. _Again_. He blinked and groaned. "Not again," he muttered. "I'm getting a serious case of déjà vu here."

The young man frowned in confusion, and Kaito felt a strange mixture of joy and horror as he realised that he recognised him. "Hakuba?"

Hakuba took a step backwards, visibly alarmed. "Y-you know my name?"

_Crap._ Kaito had forgotten than he was a child now. He wasn't supposed to know Hakuba at all. _Time to improvise._

Nodding enthusiastically, Kaito chirped in the most childish voice he could manage (which actually came incredibly easily to Kaito. He was aware that he wasn't the most mature of teenagers), "Yep! I've seen you on TV loads of times! You're a detective, aren't you, Oniichan?"

Hakuba nodded, and for a brief moment, his face lit up with smug pride. Only a _very_ brief moment, however, as his proud expression was quickly replaced by one of concern ( _Concern?_ Kaito hadn't known that Hakuba was _capable_ of being concerned for anyone's well-being but himself!) "Are you...? Where are your parents?" His gaze trailed downwards to Kaito's over-sized t-shirt, and the furrows on his brow deepened. "Don't you have any clothes your size?"

Kaito's brain whirred, weaving together a story in a matter of seconds. Lying was one thing Kaito was definitely good at. "I don't have any parents," he said, throwing in a teary-eyed sniff for effect. "Otou-san and Okaa-san are gone. They've been gone for two years. T-the people at the orphanage were mean to me, so I ran away." He pointed at his t-shirt. "I lost my suitcase in a river, so I had to wear this." Then he turned his saddest puppy dog eyes on the now-older detective. "You won't make me go back there, will you, Oniichan?"

Hopefully, Hakuba wouldn't ask any difficult questions.

Hakuba looked at him with something similar to, but not quite, pity. Then, to Kaito's immense surprise, he offered, "Would you like a hot chocolate? I don't live far from here. I can give you a change of clothes too, and a place to stay until this is sorted out. Would you like that?"

Kaito barely managed to catch his jaw from dropping. "W-what?" he said disbelievingly, his cute kid mask slipping, his voice a full octave lower than it had been before. "You're kidding, right?"

Fortunately for Kaito, Hakuba didn't seem to notice anything strange about him. It occurred to Kaito that the blond likely he didn't know how kids were supposed to act, having been a genius private-tutored only child for most of his life. "I don't see why not."

Kaito wasn't sure whether to be horrified or overjoyed when Hakuba took his hand. After Hakuba bought him a chocolate ice cream, he decided on the latter. Maybe living with Hakuba wouldn't be so bad...

...had he actually just thought that?

✧～✧～✧

"Wow! Saguru-niichan, your house is so big!" Kaito cringed slightly as the word 'Saguru-niichan- left his mouth. It tasted weird and wrong and he was inwardly mortified. He didn't let it show though, instead bouncing around the cream-coloured western-style house with all his usual boundless energy. He spun around to find Hakuba had disappeared off to somewhere, shrugged, and began a long-winded search for the TV remote.

Ten minutes later, he still hadn't found it, which was disappointing, to say the least. The wall mounted flat-screen TV was wider than he was tall with plenty of room to spare, and was apparently HD, too. Kaito had wanted to see if the image really was as good as Hakuba had claimed it was. Oh well. That could wait for another day, he supposed.

Just as Kaito had given up and collapsed onto the ivory loveseat, Hakuba had returned with a set of clothes that had belonged to him when he was younger ("Speaking of which, how old are you?" "Uh... six?") and told him to take a shower.

One refreshing shower later, Kaito was curled up in a flowery armchair wearing clean clothes, a mug of thick, molten chocolatey goodness (with marshmallows!) cupped in his little hands. Hakuba was sitting on the same loveseat Kaito had been sitting on half an hour ago, a cup of tea on the glass coffee table directly in front of him. He was surveying Kaito with inquisitive golden eyes, frowning.

"I never caught your name," he said, and Kaito froze.

_A name._ How could he have forgotten a name? _Stupid, stupid, stupid!_ Desperately, Kaito scrambled for something, _anything_. "My name?" he asked, his voice coming out as a shrill squeak. "My name is, uh... Ku... Kurosawa Kai." He winced at how similar it sounded to his real name.

"All right, Kai-kun," said Hakuba. "I hope you don't mind my company. It appears you'll be here a while."

Kaito just sipped his hot chocolate, nodding slightly as he wondered what exactly he'd gotten himself into.


	3. Wistful Memories of a Childhood Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enter—Nakamori Aoko.

Long-forgotten memories of Kaito's childhood were resurfacing in the lake of information that was his mind—and he loved it.

He remembered being too small to reach the kitchen cupboards, and overcoming that obstacle by climbing, monkey-like, onto the kitchen counter (to his mother's great displeasure) to reach the cups. He remembered sneaking into the kitchen and secretly snacking on cookies and candy when his parents weren't paying attention. He remembered charging up the stairs on all four legs, pretending to be a tiger or a rhino or a gorilla, and making animal noises to match.

But most of all, he remembered practicing magic tricks outside with his dad all day, the merging sensations of warm sun and cool breeze feeling almost magical against his skin; a packet of assorted gummy candies and a pack of cards lying beside him on the grass as he repeatedly practised making a coin disappear and reappear.

He missed the taste of gummy candies. Maybe in this second childhood he'd get to taste them again. He had ten years left until he reached his original age again, after all.

No. He had to stay positive. He _would_ get his body back. He _would_ return home. He _would_ find Pandora.

He had to.

✧～✧～✧

Kamen Yaiba, Kaito discovered, was the greatest show ever made. It was dumb. It was cheesy. The special effects were awful. The plotlines were worse. But it was a gazillion times more fun than any adult show he'd ever watched, and he loved it all the same.

Lying in front of the TV with a mug of hot chocolate was something he'd done countless times as a child, but he'd never stopped to appreciate the simpleness of it before. Because being a child was _simple_. He wouldn't go as far as to say it was _easy_ ; being a shrimp was inconvenient as heck. But it was simple, the kind of simple that adolescence never was, and he had never realised how much he missed that simpleness before now.

Simple as his life was now, it was anything but productive. A week had passed since Kaito had shrunk, and he'd accomplished a total of nothing. Nada. Nil. Zilch. Well, nothing relating to his "condition" at least. He'd watched the entire first and second seasons of Kamen Yaiba and three-quarters of the third, drank about twenty mugs of hot chocolate, read the Sherlock Holmes series twice and perfected three new card tricks, but still knew nothing by way of his shrinkage.

It was frustrating, but at the same time, relaxing—because as much as he wanted his old body back, he liked being a child.

✧～✧～✧

It would be an understatement to say that Aoko had been surprised when she heard that Hakuba was caring for a child. She had been shocked, amazed, astonished, flabbergasted —every synonym in the dictionary—because while Hakuba acted perfectly polite and nice, he also seemed a little arrogant and self-centered. He definitely didn't seem the sort to take in a lost child.

After the initial shock had worn off, excitement rushed in to take its place. Aoko loved children. She loved their sweet little smiles and their cute little hands and their tinkly little laughs. She'd always wanted a little brother or sister, and her parents had wanted another child too; then her mum had died, and those dreams had flown out the window...

But she couldn't dwell on the past, or she'd only end up upsetting herself. If she couldn't get a younger sibling of her own, she'd just have to find one.

Of course, so far she'd only heard rumours, and who knew how accurate they were. So, bursting to the brim with purposeful determination, she approached Hakuba after the final class of the day to confirm the truth.

"Hakuba-kun!"

Hakuba glanced up at her, then down at his watch. "Aoko-kun," he acknowledged. He was tapping his foot in a display of impatience, arms folded. "Look, I apologise, but I really don't have time to chat right now. Baaya is still visiting her grandchildren, so Kai-kun is home alone. I hate leaving him for longer than absolutely necessary, since he's only a child-"

"So it's true?" Aoko blurted, blushing when Hakuba looked at her questioningly. "I mean, I'd heard rumours that you took in a child, but I wasn't sure, so... Could I maybe meet him?"

"You'd like to meet Kai-kun?" Hakuba repeated, raising one arched eyebrow.

Aoko nodded eagerly. "Please!"

"Well..."

"Pretty please! I've always wanted a little brother or sister! It's been my dream for years!"

Hakuba seemed to search her face, his expression uncharacteristically uncertain. Then he sighed. "All right."

Aoko felt a surge of happiness bubbling inside her chest, her heart threatening to implode from how fast it was throbbing. "Really?" she breathed. "I can meet him?"

"Why not?" Hakuba replied. "I'm sure Kai-kun would like you."

Aoko would have jumped for joy and possibly even done a little happy dance, had Hakuba not been watching her with those hawk-like golden eyes. The other students had long since left, so at least her audience wouldn't have been too large if she hadn't been able to contain herself. "You mean that?"

She _had_ to make a good impression on Kai. If Kai liked her, then maybe Hakuba would agree to let Aoko take care of him instead. Then she could be a big sister, just like she'd always longed for.

"Aoko-kun?" Hakuba's accented voice interrupted her giddy thoughts, his frown audible in his voice. "Would you happen to know Kuroba-kun's whereabouts? Considering he hasn't been at school all week, nor has he informed the school of any illness or emergency."

The euphoria bubbled away to a low simmer as heavy worry took the reign. She'd been trying to keep thoughts of Kaito's disappearance out of mind, but now that he'd been missing seven days, it was getting harder and harder to ignore his absence. "Kaito... I—I don't know. He hasn't called me. I tried calling him, but I think his phone was either off or out of battery. It just went to voicemail." She bit her lip. "Should we—should we call the police?"

Hakuba hesitated briefly, before giving a curt nod. "Yes," he decided. "I'm going to file a missing person report."

✧～✧～✧

"Saguru-oniisan!"

The moment Hakuba pushed open the front door to his western-style home and stepped inside, he was greeted by Kai's frantic yelling and the familiar sound of the Kamen Yaiba theme song blasting from the television. Since Kai had moved in, Kamen Yaiba had almost become background noise—the younger boy spent about 90% of his time awake glued to the TV, marathoning episodes. Hakuba had lost count of how many seasons Kai had watched so far.

Behind him, Aoko gazed at the house in awe, mouth hanging open. Her amazement at the sheer size of the house added to her excitement at meeting Kai appeared to have pushed thoughts of Kuroba's disappearance out out of her mind, which gladdened Hakuba greatly. Seeing the pretty, bubbly brunette looking so anxious made him hate Kuroba even more than he had before, if that was even possible. Hopefully, Kai would be able to cheer her up.

"Kai-kun! Where are you?" he called, despite already knowing exactly where the child would be—in the living room, watching Kamen Yaiba.

"Here!" Sure enough, Kai's voice sounded from the living room, strangely urgent. "Hurry! Hurry up and get your butt in here!"

Aoko's jaw seemed to drop further at Kai's impudent manner of speech. Hakuba just shrugged it off. By now, he was used to it. Kai usually did try to be polite; he just tended to forget.

Hakuba beckoned Aoko to the living room, and they both stepped inside.

Kai was curled up on a squidgy black bean bag that he'd found in one of the guest rooms—he seemed to adore that bean bag, Hakuba had noticed, and refused to sit anywhere else— a mug of hot chocolate, heaped with whipped cream and pink and white marshmallows, by his side. He was wearing a black hoodie that swamped his tiny frame, and a pair of fluffy white and pink bunny slippers (where he'd found them, Hakuba had no idea). His indigo eyes tore away from the television to gaze desperately at Hakuba.

"They're holding a Kamen Yaiba contest!" he said, pointing to the television. "We have to answer a quiz about the shy, and the first 500 people to get all the questions right get tickets to the Kamen Yaiba festival in Beika!" He clasped his hands together in a pleading gesture. "Can I enter? I need parental permission."

Hakuba frowned. "Kai-kun, this Kamen Yaiba obsession of yours is unnatural. I'm reluctant to encourage it."

Kai's face fell, and for a second Hakuba thought he might give up without a fight. That was just wishful thinking, of course, and Hakuba should have known it. Even after only knowing Kai for just over a week, he could tell that the child wasn't one to give up easily.

Launching himself at Hakuba, Kai latched onto his legs—tight. "Pleeeeaaassseee! Saguru-oniisama, please let me enter! I wanna gooooooo!"

Hakuba shook his legs in an attempt to break free, but Kai had a grip like a vice, and remained firmly clinging to his shin.

"Saguru-oniisama! Pleeeaaasssee! I'll do anything!"

"Let him have his fun, Hakuba-kun. If he likes Kamen Yaiba, he should be allowed to enter."

Kai froze upon hearing Aoko's voice, his grasp loosening enough for Hakuba to shake him off. Aoko stepped out from where she had been obscured from Kai's view by the door.

"So this is Kai-kun? He's so cute!" She knelt down. "Can you take down your hood, Kai-kun? I'd really like to see your face."

Kai leapt to his feet, stumbling out of Aoko's reach. He was trembling, trying to pull his hood down further, as if to hide his face. Hakuba stared. It hadn't occurred to him that Kai might be shy. He'd always acted so outgoing in Hakuba's company, if not a little boisterous and impolite. He'd assumed that Kai would be the same for other people.

Aoko seemed surprised by Kai's sudden shyness, but laughed. "Well, if you want to keep your hood down, you can. I won't force you to do anything you don't want to." She removed her cellphone from her pocket and typed in her PIN. "You can enter the competition online, right? I have data. Why don't we enter right now?"

Kai seemed to hesitate, one hand hovering halfway to the phone, before quickly taking the mobile device and starting to tap away at the keyboard. Ten minutes later, he handed back the mobile.

"Are you finished already?" Aoko asked in surprise.

Kai nodded silently, tugging down his hood again, refusing to meet Aokos gaze.

Aoko frowned, crestfallen. Then, her face brightened. "Hey, Kai-kun, do you need any new clothes? I could take you clothes shopping, if you like."

Kai didn't reply.

Aoko's lip wobbled. By her side, her fists clenched.

"I'm sure Kai-kun would love to," Hakuba cut in, desperately wanting to avoid a tearful situation. "Wouldn't you, Kai-kun?"

Kai shot Hakuba a baleful glare far too fierce to belong to a six-year-old, and Hakuba shuddered despite himself. Kai and Kuroba shared so many mannerisms and idiosyncracies that it was scary. They even looked similar, having the same intelligent yet lively indigo eyes and dark birds' nests for hair (Kai's mop of brown hair was utterly untameable, and Kuroba probably didn't even bother with such trivialities as hair-brushing). But Kai was a child, Hakuba had to remind himself, and Kuroba was seventeen, like Hakuba himself. It wasn't like Kuroba could somehow de-age himself. That would most likely eradicate multiple laws of physics.

But even so... if Kai were Kuroba...

Hakuba shook his head to clear his thoughts. The sheer idea was ludicrous. Laws of physics aside, if he and Kuroba were lived under the same roof, Hakuba wouldn't be able to bear it. Kuroba would inevitably drive him insane with his immature, obnoxious, devil-may-care attitude, and it would most likely end with one of the two (almost certainly Hakuba himself) locating the nearest window and promptly defenestrating themself.

Inwardly feeling assured that Kai and Kuroba were not one and the same, Hakuba ignored Kai's sullenness, nudging the boy in Aoko's direction. "Go."

Kai reluctantly obliged.


End file.
